Sheriff asks employee for sex, then fires her when she reports it, Michigan lawsuit says
For nearly four years while working at a Michigan sheriff’s office, a community outreach director endured inappropriate touches, lewd comments and a proposition for sex from the elected county sheriff, a lawsuit said.
When she reported the harassment nearly four years after it began, she was fired, a federal lawsuit filed on Feb. 11 said.
The community outreach director maintained her position when Raphael Washington was appointed as the Wayne County Sheriff in January 2021, the lawsuit said. She was fired just days after Washington was reelected a second time on Nov. 5, 2024, according to the complaint.
The sheriff’s office sent McClatchy News a statement Feb. 12 on the lawsuit:
“In what is a typical legal stunt, this lawsuit was apparently filed at the end of business (Feb. 11). We have not been served nor had the opportunity for a legal review. When that review is complete, there will be plenty to say,” Communications Director Mara MacDonald said.
The now-former employee said the sheriff’s harassment was well-known and spanned decades, predating his time at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, according to the lawsuit. While the sheriff was running for office, however, employees were told to keep his history under wraps, the lawsuit said.
Harassment from new sheriff
For three years, Washington repeatedly rubbed and touched the employee’s stomach, thighs and buttocks even as she tried to hit his hand away, the lawsuit said.
He made lewd comments, according to the lawsuit, including telling the woman that she would be more attractive if she gained weight and that he “didn’t know she had all that back there,” the complaint said.
She asked him to stop making comments, but the lawsuit said he ignored her and continued to make them.
In February 2023, Washington called the employee and asked her to have sex with him, the lawsuit said.
The following day, the sheriff repeatedly called and texted the employee and asked her to come into the office even though other employees were sent home due to bad weather, according to court documents.
The woman said she was “terrified” to report to the office, but she told Washington’s chief of staff about the exchange, the lawsuit said.
She also told the sheriff that his statements about sex “frightened her,” the lawsuit said. The sheriff replied by saying he “only asked her for a kiss,” the complaint said.
As the two talked about the phone call, Washington rubbed her thighs, hugged the employee and kissed her on the lips, the lawsuit said.
The employee again reported Washington for harassment in October 2023 when she and other Wayne County officials attended a movie premiere. The lawsuit said Washington grabbed her buttocks in the elevator and then showed her a video of a woman performing sex acts on him, the lawsuit said.
The employee, who was sitting next to the sheriff at the premiere, asked why he would show her that. The sheriff said, “You have to share the love,” according to the lawsuit.
She again reported the incident to the chief of staff.
A formal complaint for sexual harassment was made in April 2024 and Washington became upset, according to the lawsuit.
She kept quiet about the harassment for months after the report was filed because she feared retaliation, according to the lawsuit.
On Nov. 13, however, the employee was told some of her job duties would be removed. The next day, she was fired for opposing Washington’s conduct, the lawsuit said.
History of harassment
Washington’s years of harassment predated his work at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, according to the complaint.
In 2002, he was charged with misconduct for conducting unbecoming of an officer and lying to Southfield (Michigan) Police, according to the lawsuit. He was accused of “peeping” in his ex-wife’s windows and becoming “abusive, screaming at her and cursing,” when he was confronted, according to court documents.
In 2008, he asked a member of the public to “bend over” so he could see her “panties” while they were at a Detroit Police Department office, the lawsuit said.
Before taking over as sheriff, he had been accused of sexual harassment while working at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, the suit said.
In 2010, he repeatedly asked a sheriff’s office employee out on a date and in 2016 another employee accused him of asking for massages at work, according to the complaint.
The former employee is asking for damages and demanding a jury trial.
Washington, a Democrat, won reelection for Wayne County Sheriff in 2024 and received 69% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia.
Detroit is in Wayne County.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Sheriff asks employee for sex, then fires her when she reports it, Michigan lawsuit says."
